Well, last night’s debate did not turn into the shit storm it could have been. As she has been throughout the campaign, Hillary Clinton was poised, measured and offered voters some specifics on policy proposals but also told them where they could go to get much more detail on her policy initiatives. Donald Trump, on the other hand was combative, angry and defensive in the face of some very troubling revelations over the past few days. He spoke in broad generalities and offered few specifics other than his desire to see Ms. Clinton investigated and jailed. He did not direct voters to his website for specifics or even offer any concrete solutions to any of the problems facing America. I do not blame the moderators Anderson Cooper or Martha Raddatz because they did press him for specifics but none were forthcoming. At this point in the campaign, with even Republican support running for the exits, it seems clear that Donald Trump will not be elected President. Never say never, but the handwriting on the proverbial wall seems clear. At this point, I question even if Mr. Trump actually knows what the President does and how his or her role is defined. He keeps talking about Sec. Clinton’s long history in government and why she has not been able to accomplish some of her proposals. Does Donlad realize that as a lone Senator, it is difficult to impose your will on 99 other well meaning public servants? Does he realize that as President you cannot just impose your own warped sense of justice and policy at will? He seems to have this view of the Presidency as an authoritative, megalomaniacal position where the system of checks and balances built into our system of government has no import.
Especially today with the extreme polarization and the importance of the decisions that must be made, a president must have the ability to negotiate and compromise and reach across the aisle to affect real change. Can you see Donald Trump capitulating on anything? My suggestion for Donald Trump would be to pick up everything, move to Russia or another authoritarian country and run for their presidency. I for one would much rather have him as an adversary than an ally.
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”Tis the season I guess when almost every major newspaper and polling organization polls voters about everything trying to gain insight into the American electorate and how they will behave on election day. Some of the latest polls are interesting and explainable. In a recent CNN ORC poll, President Barrack Obama has an approval rating of 55%, the highest since his first year in office. Another recent poll shows that 63% of Americans think that the US is on the wrong path. So what are we to assume from these two polls. Only 8% of Americans think that the reason we are on the wrong path is due to President Obama and his policies? What about the other 55%? Here’s the thing the media won’t dare say. It is my belief that over half the country thinks we are on the wrong track not because of The Obama administration but because of the Republican controlled do-nothing Congress. What else should one believe when confronted with these data sets? Ever since the tea party’s insurgence into the Republican Party their stated goal has been to block the legislative agenda of the President by whatever means necessary which includes, filibuster, rules manipulation and outright obstruction of anything of importance. The lack of action on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee is a case in point. The case was made last week that if something catastrophic were to occur in the electoral process this year and it ended up in the Supreme Court like it did in 2000, we might have a deadlocked court at 4-4 and may have to wait for months and months for a winner to be declared. A doomsday scenario to be sure but an illustrative one in terms of how reckless and derelict Congress has been in terms of its constitutional responsibilities. Yes I said responsibilities. Just because you don’t like someone’s politics, it does not give you the authority to make up any rules you see fit to benefit your position. Congress has been negligent in their action and I would suggest that a majority of the country thinks we are on the wrong track because of the Republican Congress. Add to that, the rise of Donald Trump and I don’t see how Republicans can continue to be a political force in this government.
So good voters of the United States, when you go to the polls on November 8, send a clear message to the Republican Party. We the people, do not condone or appreciate your lack of action on issues affecting the American people and we think it is time to put people in office who will take their responsibilities seriously and quit playing politics with our system of government. In the interest of fairness, I will be the first one to tell you that yes, I think Donald Trump should release his tax returns. If you have nothing to hide, those returns need to be released for public scrutiny. I will also be the first one to say that attacking Mr. Trump on a few pages of a 20 year old tax return leaked this weekend to the New York Times is wrong. The pages leaked showed something around a $915 million dollar loss that experts say might have allowed him to avoid paying taxes for up to 18 years or so. If the information we have is correct, and I stress “if” then Donald Trump did nothing wrong or illegal in terms of his tax returns. It may be politically embarrassing but not illegal.
forward provision in the tax code is helpful for small businesses that might struggle after a project does not turn out as planned and they work to recoup those losses. The provision was not designed for billionaires to avoid paying taxes, especially since the loss carry forward was part of a massive bail out of Trump and his Atlantic City venture and his airline that was bleeding money. By all accounts, Trump should have had to declare personal bankruptcy at the time but the banks propped him up for their benefit, not his.
Anyway, I see this leak of the one page of the tax return as a classic mis-direct designed to focus attention on what happened 20 years ago instead of what is happening now. According to tax experts, the loss carry forward would have expired by now and we wonder if Mr. Trump paid income taxes on the $600 million plus he claimed on his FEC filing for the money he made last year or if his high powered accountants found other loopholes to offset that income. Perhaps time will tell but time is running out. |